Quick Hits: Mets, Reyes, Cardinals, Escobar

If you're among MLBTR's 202,000 Twitter followers then thanks for following. If you aren’t yet following, we’d recommend it. But you don't have to take our word for it. Sports Illustrated named @mlbtraderumors one of the 100 essential Twitter accounts for those seeking “news, information and entertainment from the sports world.” Here are today’s links…

MLB is nearing agreements with FOX and Turner Sports on new eight-year broadcasting contracts according to the AP (via ESPN). Revenue from the two networks is likely to double to $800MM annually.

Commissioner Bud Selig isn’t worried about the Mets, Newsday's Marc Carig reports (Twitterlinks). "I don't consider the Mets a problem in any way, shape or manner,” Selig said. “They're on the right track." Selig went on to express confidence in the Wilpon family and general manager Sandy Alderson.

The Mets should be open to trading Ike Davis this winter, especially if they can fill multiple holes by sending the first baseman to another team, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes. The Mets have too many needs to rule out possible deals involving Davis.

The first year of Jose Reyes’ deal with Miami would have to be called a success, Davidoff writes. The Marlins shortstop leads the team with 147 games played despite previous concerns about his durability.

One well-connected person estimates the Cardinals are worth $1.5 billion, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Dispatch reports (on Twitter). The Dodgers recently sold for a record $2 billion in a positive development for other MLB owners.

You’re taking the comment too literal. In a sense, he’s right. If AA’s #1 goal was to have a great image for the Jays, he’d be released. But, it’s not. His #1 goal is to make money and put the best team on the field. The easiest way to make money as a baseball team? Win games.

The attitude itself is still a concerning one. It’s concerning at all levels of sports. “As long as he can win us games, it doesn’t matter what kind of person he is.” You see it with college athletes coasting through school. It’s why Michael Vick still has a job.

Obviously winning is the primary focus of the organizations, and obviously Yunel Escobar’s gaffe is not something that should be getting him kicked out, but the mindset that “we’re trying to win games, not run for president” is dangerous nonetheless.

Looking at the punishments guys like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant received for actually saying their slurs directly to someone…I think Yunel’s punishment is fair, and a year suspension/release would have been absurd. Doesn’t matter how much more star power those two have in the sports world over Yunel, that would have been a very ridiculous punishment in my eyes.

A year really would have been excessive. It would be more than a second-strike failure for PEDs, for comparison purposes.

But oh gosh would I have loved to see it. I would love it if GMs would collectively stand up and say “if you can’t act like a professional, then you will not be a professional anymore.” That isn’t just in reference to Escobar and what he did, there are plenty of players who have done things I feel the same way about. There are hundreds of kids toiling away in the minors who would love a shot at the Bigs and I would much rather see them get a chance, even if they are an inferior player, than some of these arrogant, self-absorbed, destructive players.

There is a balancing act between second chances and requiring professionalism, to be sure, and I’m not sure I can say where that line should be, but I’d love to see that kind of move.

I don’t see how releasing him would’ve been a punishment considering how hard it is to find a shortstop… Another team would sign him in a second and he’d still be getting paid.

Suspending him for the duration of the year might’ve been worth pursuing. Honestly though, I really don’t have a problem with his current punishment. He didn’t mean to offend anybody and really, it’s just an example of immaturity and a lack of understanding. Wouldn’t defend or condone his actions but I think a lot of this is being completely blown out of proportion. Make an example out of him and hope we never have to see a situation like this arise again.

I think having him play again this season will help determine if he can at least somewhat redeem himself so that we don’t have to go an entire offseason with speculation about Escobar moving, like how we have to sit through 20 posts a week about Farrel leaving for Boston. If things don’t play out the rest of the season then I think it makes the decision to get rid of him easier and faster, sparing us the pain (I hate repetitive speculation myself.)

How is playing more games redeeming himself? At-bats are not the issue here. You have a low class SS, thats the problem. Playing more games arn’t changing anything, just taking away from the seriousness of the issue. Bench him, drag him through the mud, and if he can own it and be mature about it then you keep him.

if you take him out of games you remove him from the public eye and so the last thing people remember about this guy (mainly the media) is that he ended his season on this terrible note. So the the media and all the fans speculate upon this. He now has an opportunity to prove that he has truly learned his lesson. Trade value would also be terrible if that’s the last thing people remember about him.

Question: Would people have easily forgiven Michael Vick if he came back and was awful? Probably not; he proved himself. ( Not that I’m comparing the two specific situations, just the general idea.)

That excuse is beaten to death everytime someone does anything wrong and makes a mistake the last few decades and it is NOT an excuse, even a poor one that should fly.

Every child, *properly* raised knows the difference in right and wrong at an early age, yet we continue to see miscreants, exactly like escobar get away nearly scott free and the famous old “I didn’t know any better” line as an excuse.. Pitiful..

Exactly. He knew what the word meant, anybody who thinks otherwise is either on his level or lower. He knew it was offensive. He should be suspended a full year for being such an inferior human being, made to do classes on proper behavior, and forced to tour with the team all year without playing time or else go unpaid. This wasn’t some Freudian slip during a emotional moment in a game, It was a premeditated act of ignorance he drew on his face. Its time for the league to draw another word under his eyes…benched.

This is what I meant by people overreacting. A full year? Are you kidding me? Ozzie Guillen says he loves Fidel Castro and was suspended a few games. Rodger McDowell got two weeks for making homophobic gestures at a fan.

If you want to trade David Wright, I propose you send him and Matt Harvey to the Phillies and you can have any 3 position players on the Phils’ roster and can substitute out for any of those 3 any player in the Phils’ farm system.

Bud Selig on the Mets “I don’t consider the Mets a problem in any way, shape or manner,” Selig said. It’s interesting he says this about the Mets and Wilpons.
As far as I am concerned they have three strikes
Strike One:
The Naming of their home field “Citi”. Citi Group used to be an outstanding company.
I am not impressed with them any longer. Plus, I would have given them the hook, I would have changed the naming rights immediately or would have at least tried.
Strike Two:
That whole fiasco with the ponzi scheme situation.
Strike Three:
Digital Domain Media Group had naming rights for Mets Spring Training Facility
Do the Mets have Dan Marino’s 13 Million?
I am sorry this trend is a bit of a problem. Even if the Wilpons had nothing to do with any of this, it’s the friends they keep as far as I am concerned. It’s bad for business!
As for the Mets trading Ike Davis, WHY?????? He’s under control till 2017. I think he’s a very good player. He’ll get to 30 Hr’s at least in 2012. Who would the Mets replace Davis with? La Roche, Reynolds, someone internally? Who?? La Roche and Reynolds would cost big bucks. Something Mets really don’t have !
Also, has the Dodger/ Cardinal rivalry been reduced as which organization is worth more? That’s kind of silly if it has.
AZs for Escobar, his play hasn’t really impressed me as of late. I watched him against the Orioles a few weeks ago. I felt he was phoning it in a bit. Then he pushed Vizquel out of the way to catch a pop up which I thought was a bit much. On the previous play, he made an error on what I thought was a routine play. If I were AA, I would trade him if I could just based on his play

“Also, has the Dodger/ Cardinal rivalry been reduced as which organization is worth more? That’s kind of silly if it has.”

Where does it say anything of the sort? Strauss’ tweet was that the Cardinals are worth around $1.5 Billion BECAUSE of the sale of the Dodgers. The sale of the Dodgers(and Padres for that matter) changes the value for every MLB team.

First, Selig doesn’t see any problems with the Mets? Well he’s the only one.

Second, Reyes’ first year in Miami was a success? Hmm. You might want to take a look at that heavily back loaded contract again. The Marlins have TWO years to win before the next fire sale begins. In the first year, they didn’t even make the playoffs. Reyes was signed on a multi-year deal, but it’s really a 2 year deal for the Fish. He’s there to sell tickets to the new stadium, generate fan interest and get them into the playoffs. How did that go over this year again?

In the first year of their new stadium, they still had attendance issues, fan interest has been as low as ever in South Florida, and they didn’t make the playoffs. So with all of that in mind, why would the first year be considered a success?

Can a team on it’s own initiative suspend a player? I don’t recall a situation like this before – it’s almost always been the league suspending the player, whether for PEDs, fighting, arguing with the umps, etc. I think either they would suspend him and still have to pay him, which would be stupid, or the union would have a huge beef. Probably not a realistic alternative.

Yeah. It’s happened quite a few times before, usually for things like insubordination. They need a reason to (whether it be insubordination or something offensive like this) and its not questioned by the MLBPA because there’s usually an obvious reason why the team’s doing it.

Although MLB player suspensions are super lax compared to minor league suspensions, which shows the effect of the MLBPA.

Escobar’s immaturity is why he was traded out of Atlanta. Why should he change if he still gets to play and gets paid millions? I do feel AA’s response was sufficient (though I deplore Escobar’s actions)… but I bet AA will look to move Escobar later when it can be done without Toronto losing too much in the deal.

It’s the first year of their new stadium, they had a star studded off season and they are still only selling 75% of their seats? What happens when the novelty of the new stadium wears off next year or the year after and the team continues to dump all their high priced signees? I thought finally getting a new stadium would be enough considering that’s always been the Marlins’ claim, but it wasn’t. Did you see the turnout for Hurricanes football last week? Miami fans are not very devoted. The Heat draw now because of stars and the NBA title possibility, but other than that Miami sports fans are impossible to count on. That being said, I think it’s just a matter of time before Loria dumps contracts again. It’s like a nervous tick with him. He can’t stick with payroll for too long because he gets all frantic about paying people and he knows Miami fans just don’t show up.

“Continues to dump all their high prices signees”? Only one of the Marlins trades was a “salary dump,” and if you don’t think Hanley Ramirez deserved it, then you haven’t been paying attention to Marlins OR Dodgers baseball.

The Marlins have been terrible this year. Outside of May, they’ve been the second worst team in baseball…. yet they’re selling more tickets (and a greater percentage of their tickets) than most of the contenders out there. You say “only 75%” as if half the team in baseball wish they sold that well.

If the Marlins started out like the Pirates and drawn this way, you could call those attendance figures disappointing, but the Marlins fell on their face from the start of the season, and the only team that sells out in that condition is the Cubs.

You did pay attention to the fact that after they acquired Carlos Lee, they shopped him heavily to dump his salary? And when you see what they did after their two WS wins or how the Cabrera thing.. or even possibly Dan Uggla. There’s a very clear track record in how they handle big money contracts in Miami.